# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2013_S3
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SYNOD REPORTS
Can We Visit about the Mission?
The Constitution of the Missouri Synod requires “visitation.” In
fact, the whole system of church governance is designed for “visitation” (Bylaws 5.1.1ff.). The Handbook of the Synod defines
“ecclesiastical supervision” this way:
Ecclesiastical supervision: The responsibility, primarily of the President of the Synod and district presidents, to supervise on behalf of the
Synod the doctrine, life, and administration of its members, officers,
and agencies. Such supervision, subject to the provisions of the Synod’s
Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions, includes visitation, evangelical
encouragement and support, care, protection, counsel, advice, admonition, and, when necessary, appropriate disciplinary measures to assure
that the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod are followed
and implemented. Thus, ecclesiastical supervision is also the presenting,
interpreting, and applying of the collective will of the Synod’s congregations.

Where does this come from? Way back in 1528, Luther’s sidekick Philip Melanchthon wrote “Visitation Articles” for the Lutheran
Church in Saxony. We have them in English, published by CPH (AE
40:263). In the early years after Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses
and the church began to reorganize, there were only a few Roman
Catholic bishops who converted to Lutheranism. Luther naively
thought that because the clear, pure Gospel was now proclaimed,
people would break out in living wonderful, sanctified lives of love
and service. Any structure beyond the local parish would be unnecessary! Well, you might be able to guess how that turned out! Things
were so bad in Wittenberg that on more than one occasion Luther was
ready to quit and move away!
Luther became convinced that an office of “visitation” or “ecclesiastical supervision” was absolutely necessary for the church. Having
a system of leaders in the church (Luther called them “bishops”; we
call them “synod and district presidents”) who supervise the doctrine
and life of other pastors and congregations, said Luther, was not commanded by the Bible, but the church in its wisdom from the beginning
had set up such a system. Luther wrote:
Both the Old and the New Testaments give sufficient evidence of
what a divinely wholesome thing it would be if pastors and Christian
congregations might be visited by understanding and competent persons. For we read in Acts 9[:32] that St. Peter travelled about in the
land of the Jews. And in Acts 15[:2] we are told that St. Paul together
with Barnabas revisited all those places where they had preached. All
his epistles reveal his concern for all the congregations and pastors. He
writes letters, he sends his disciples, he goes himself. … Samuel travelled around, now to Gilgal [1 Sam. 10:8; 11:14; 13:8: 15:12] and other
places, not out of delight for taking a walk but out of love and a sense of
duty in his ministry and because of the want and need of the people. Elijah and Elisha did the same. … More than any, Christ has done this kind
of work on behalf of all, and on this account possessed no place on earth
where he could lay his head or which he could call his own. (AE 40:269)

Luther’s reference to Acts 15:36 is enlightening. “And after some
days Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us return and visit the brothers in
every city where we proclaimed the Word of the Lord, and see how
they are.’” The word for “visit” in Luke’s original is episkepsesthe.
The noun form—episkopos—is used by St. Paul in verses we all know
extremely well. “An overseer (i.e., bishop or pastor) should be a man
of one wife.” It’s been quipped that the problem with the Missouri
Synod is not that we don’t have bishops, it’s that we have too many!
For according to St. Paul, every local pastor is an overseer/bishop.
Only the local pastor is divinely mandated. In freedom, the church
devised a form of governance almost right from the start where certain
men were chosen by the clergy and people to lead and have responsibility for the doctrine and life of other pastors and congregations. Said
Luther: “Actually, bishop means supervisor or visitor, and archbishop
a supervisor or visitor of bishops, to see to it that each parish pastor
visits and watches over and supervises his people in regard to teaching

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and life. And the archbishop was to visit, watch over, and supervise
the bishops as to their teaching” (AE 40:270). While we (and much
of Lutheranism) did not retain the term “bishop” for our leaders out
of a desire not to be associated with wrong Roman Catholic views
on church leadership, the Constitution and Bylaws of the Synod are
a classic representation of the ancient way the church was organized
(Constitution, Art. XI B; Bylaws 3.3.1 ff.; 3.10.1.2; 4.4.2; 4.4.4).
Visitation is vitally important. The Synod President is charged
with visiting all districts with respect to doctrine and administration. He also gives account to each district. This happens especially
during district conventions. I made it to 22 district conventions last
year. The Synod vice-presidents represented me at those conventions
I was not able to attend personally. The President of the Synod also
has visitation duties with respect to the seminaries and universities
of the Synod, as well as the corporate entities. District presidents are
required by the Bylaws of the Synod to visit each congregation. That’s
a tough, almost impossible, task. They often make use of district vicepresidents, district staff, and circuit counselors.
So what does visitation look like? It looks like the ministry
of Jesus. Note how He goes, sends, preaches, plants, returns, and
strengthens! It looks like the ministry of Paul. It goes. It walks. It
visits people where they are. It proclaims Christ. It begins a mission station. It then goes to the next place. It returns and encourages,
admonishes, sets things in order, and appoints ministers. It rebukes
and corrects; it forgives and urges people forward in the mission of
the Gospel. It does not coerce (Bylaw 4.4.4 [c]). It respects local freedom and wisdom. Dr. Walther wrote in his “Duties of an Evangelical
Lutheran Synod” that “without visitation, it is probably impossible
for a church to remain in unity.”
It’s vital for us to encourage one another in visitation, from the
local parish to the President of the Synod, so that we can be mutually responsible to one another. We should return to Missouri’s
traditional language of “circuit visitor.” “Counselor” is about therapy when things are not going well. People see a “counselor” when
there’s a problem. Visitation is also vital for our international mission and missionaries, for our international schools, as well as for our
parochial schools, all so we can encourage one another—so we can
spur one another on in love toward excellence in all we do (1 Cor.
15:29); so we can urge one another on to become better preachers,
better pastors, better teachers; so we can care for one another; so we
can be united and encouraged in the mission of sharing the Gospel of
free forgiveness in Christ’s death and resurrection to all (Rom. 1:13).
Toward that end, you should know that Rev. Bart Day, executive director of the Office of National Mission, is focusing all programs and
activities of his department on one top priority for our districts and
congregations: revitalization for mission. Please note his report later
in this document.
Missouri’s Moment?
In recent weeks there has been a “tectonic shift” in world
Lutheranism. It’s the most significant shift in a century or more.
The ELCA’s acceptance and promotion of same-gender marriage
has caused the world’s largest and fastest growing Lutheran church
body, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY)
with some 6.1 million members (and Africans count only people who
actually come to church!), to sever its ties with the ELCA and the
Church of Sweden. At the same time, these Ethiopians expressed their
desire to work toward fellowship with the Missouri Synod. That will
take some time. The shock waves are rippling through Africa, and
there is a surge of activity and interest in the LCMS in several other
very large church bodies and many smaller bodies. Years of kindness
and excellence by our seminary professors, missionaries, and others
have developed strong and lasting relationships. These Africans want
2013 Convention Workbook